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How shall 1 greet you, beautiful Spring 
Morning, who have come to my doorstep 
virgin with the odours of the far fields? 

How shall I greet you, long-sought and 
long-awaited Solacer, when my soul, which 
should leap up at your coming, languishes 
in the nostalgia of imperishable shadows? 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

BY GUSTAV DAVIDSON 

AUTHOR OF 
"MELMOTH THE WANDERER" 




THE MADRIGAL 

100 BROADWAY • NEW YORK 
MCMXIX 



COPYRIGHT, I9I9, by GUSTAV DAVIDSON 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



ur. 2J 1319 



TITLE PAGE AND DECORATIONS BY I SANDERS, SCULPTOR. 

LETTERING BY THEODORE MEHRER. COMPOSITIO-N BY 

I MARLIN. COVER AND INTERIOR STOCK SUPPLIED BY 

THE JAPAN PAPER COMPANY 









TO M M A 



Thii Edition printed on 
San Marco paper and 
limited to joo copies of 
•which thii copy is No. 



/V.<! / 



SONGS OF ADORATION 
I -XVIII 



-'V-V' I 



• *m ^ •• \ J •• ^-* •• K ^ • 

•••, V ,• • • •, • «• • • •, • «• • • •, V ,• • 

• ••***•• • • ••***•• • • ••***•• • • ••***•• • 

• • • • • • • • • . • • • . • • 

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

;,.• ••.::.•• ••.:;.•• ••.::•••••••••,; 

SONGS OF ADORATION 



LET me sit at the feet of thy goodness, 
which thou hast gathered in the years 
of thy becoming. 

Let me learn only from thy lips the beau- 
tiful parable of this world, which thou hast 
interpreted according to the manner of thine 

evolving. 

Out of the chaos of my own soul let me 
look steadily to the light of thy spirit. 

Lead me, who am lost and loitering, unto 
the summits of thy grace, thy blessedness, 
and thy tranquility. 



13 



SONGS OP ADORATION 

n 

EVEN in the dawn of my singing, there 
already shineth upon me the sun of 
my downgoing. 

I mount and look unto the very altitudes; 
yet whilst the thin air breatheth about me, 
I know how soon will be the immediacy 
of my down-climbing. 

Thou, singing, look'st only beyond thee to. 
wards thy fulfilment. Thou, singing, knowest 
only ascent towards thy attainment, and goest 
on in thy faith, unafraid. 

But I am weak with hesitations, I am full 
of misgivings, my faith is constantly assailed. 

Yea, darkness descendeth upon me, and I 
know not the true road. 



14 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

III 

THOU hast met me in the way of my jour- 
neying and hast shown me grace. A 
string of amber and carnelian beads, so hang- 
eth thy goodness about my neck, so lieth it 
upon my breast. I walk, and it shineth. I 
move, and it gloweth. I run, and it sheddeth 
its lustre all over. 

Thy calm floweth unto my very feet, a 
river of sweet waters. Its purling soundeth 
in mine ears with a sweet sound; it laveth 
mine eyes; it cooleth even my noonday thirst- 
ing. 

Yea, on a day of good-befalling thou earnest 
to me: in my most need and in my farthest 
lonesomeness. Long didst thou await me on 
the shores of my destiny, and ever in thy 
hands were the gathered fruits of thy be- 
coming, even to overflowing. 

Unto the path of my on-going and up- 
clirabing didst thou come to deliver me; even 
unto the summits of my own fulfilment. 



15 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

IV 

THOU hast touched the heaven and earth 
of my soul. Now I am ablaze with 
the twin fires of thine enkindling. Now there 
dances in me a host of untamable visions 
and unforsakable songs. 

Yea, like some deep-sea diver didst thou 
plunge into my depths. In thy swift and 
earliest magnificence, warm with the sum- 
mer-heat of life, didst thou burst in upon 
me, and like a submerging sun invade my 
hidden waters. 

Now sorely troubled are the hitherto-still 
pools of my spirit, the hitherto slow-flowing 
streams of my remoteness. I know not what 
maketh me to tremble all over. Only a great 
unrest hath taken possession of my heart; 
only a sweet sorrow hath hung its jewel, 
piece on my breast. 

0, thou hast touched the heaven and earth 
of my soul, and I am ablaze with the twin 
fires of thine enkindling. 



16 



/naC I 



SONGS OP ADORATION 



THOU failest not in remembrance of me. 
Thou keepest in mind my constant 
need. Thou givest thought to my alone- 
being. Thou dost not forsake me. 

Thy goodness endureth to the end. Thy 
lovingkindness floweth in an unceasing 
stream. There is no last to thy fair-bestow- 
ing. 

0, thou makest me to exult. Thou makest 
me to give praises in song. Thou makest 
me to utter thy name in many languages, to 
sound it on many strings. 

For thy sake will I purify my ways and 
walk in the paths of my justification. Thou 
pointest out the road for my feet to take, 
and goest before me. And thou leadest me 
back to the days of mine innocence. Yea, 
thou makest me to celebrate my renewal. 

When I seem to stray, thou arrangest for 
me a covenant with my forgotten angels. And 
thou strengthenest my purpose. And thou 



17 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

fortifiest my will. And thou teachest direc- 
tion to my soul. 

Without thee, what am I? A house with- 
out light, a ship that wandereth on the high 
waters, a worshipper without faith. 

Without thy light what were my dark- 
ness? A close-shuttered temple, a night 
without stars, a groping that knoweth no end. 

0, thou failest not in remembrance of me. 
Thou keepest in mind my constant need. 
Thou givest thought to my alone-being. Thou 
dost not forsake me. 



18 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

VI 

SONG dwelleth not in my heart, and my 
lips make no utterance. Like a foun- 
tain that playeth no longer, so is my heart 
stilled. 

My instrument is laid aside, and the strings 
have ceased their quivering; they know not 
the touch of my hands, nor the communi- 
cation of my spirit. 

As though turned underground, so runneth 
now every prompting to music, even back to 
its source. Unheard are all the wontea Har- 
monies of my conjuring. 

Spring Cometh arrayed and the earth yield- 
eth up various scents. The sun spreadeth his 
radiance before mine eyes, the trees whisper 
about me, the dew falleth upon the ground, 
twilight descendeth. 

I walk in the paths of my justification and 
?n the ways of my on-going. I do not stray 
from the right road. I do not linger by the 
wayside. 

Yet only as a wind striketh the surface of 
the waters and maketh it to tremble, leaving 
calm all the spaces beneath, even in such 
manner am I moved. My heart, deep down, 



19 



SONGS OP ADORATION 

leapeth not in answer. My lips give forth 
po sound. 

I know not the interpretation of my own 
want, nor the depths of my stillness. My 
own sorrow I possess not, nor the joy of its 
telling. 

The springs of my delight are sealed; the 
wells of my utterance. Like a fountain that 
playeth no longer, so is my heart stilled. 



20 



SONGS OP ADORATION 

VII 

I WILL seek out a place for myself in the 
midst of the city and sit still, with my 
hands folded. It will not trouble me to see 
the whole world busy with its thousand cares, 
for I will not heed it. With my hands folded 
I will sit still and meditate upon thee. 

Oh, they will come to me and say. How 
can you sit there doing nothing? They will 
run to me and cry, Do you not see there are 
d thousand things to be accomplished ere the 
day is done and yet you have not stirred? 

To this I will have no answer ready. I 
wiU bear patiently their reproaches and make 
no reply. Because they may not understand, 
why should I grieve them with a single word? 
To me it will merely seem that there is no 
need for hastening. All my life I have hast- 
ened, and what have I accomplished? All my 
years 1 have spent in pursuit of the next mo- 
ment fleeting — and when have I found it? 

No, I will seek out a place for myself in 
the midst of the city, and meditate upon thee 
with folded hands. 



21 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

VIII 

YOU have given me cause to sing, and 
though my heart is without motive, I 
will not hesitate to malie songs out of my 
own rejoicing. 

Because you are the subject of my adora- 
tion, it seems to me that the whole world 
must put aside its cares and listen to my 
singing. 

I will take my flute in my hands and play 
upon it. And my music will be of the new- 
born day which the sun has brought as a 
gift to the earth this beautiful, glad morning. 
But I will really be thinking of one who has 
given me to know the gladness of my own 
awakening. 

I will sing of the freshness of April fields 
and the buoyancy of all things that surround 
me. But I will have ever before me the 
image of one who has set Spring in my own 
heart. 

They will hearken, my listeners, and look 
to the east and to the west to see the things 
whereof my song makes mention; but they 
will not know that the thing I have left un- 



22 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

spoken — it is that which gives such magic 
to my flute. 

And when I have praised all the visible 
sights of the earth, and my listeners have 
departed, I shall still be singing. 

And when I have extolled the oncoming 
stars till they too wane from the heavens, 
dawn will find me on the hills with my flute 
still in my hands. 

For you, who have risen never to wane, 
have given me cause for singing, and out 
of the joy that is mine through your be- 
stowing, I will scatter music into the heart 
of all the world. 



23 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

IX 

I WILL set thy name above all others in my 
heart, for thou art my salvation. 

Therefore will I make songs unto thee 
without ceasing, and never weary of extolling 
thy goodness all the day long. 

I will establish thy worth broadcast, in 
the dark and light places of the land, and 
cause thy name to be remembered through 
many generations. 

For I was in distress, and called upon thee 
out of my distress, and thou didst answer me. 
I appeared before thee empty-handed, and 
thou wast not wroth; but thou didst receive 
me with willing arms and open countenance. 
Even when I came to thy door, thou didst not 
turn away. Even when thou sawest my need, 
thou didst not forsake me. Rather, thou 
took'st me closer to thy bosom and gavest 
me full comfort. 

Truly thou art my good, and my help, and 
my deliverer out of darkness. In thy strength 
will I take refuge; in thy sanctuary. 

Oh, how will it be with me when thou art 
no longer near — when thou standest at a 
distance? 



24 



SONGS OP ADORATION 

In thy presence my heart breatheth in the 
sun; and when thou art away from me, my 
soul seizeth upon its stars. But when thou 
shalt be altogether removed from me, what 
shall I do? 

Because of thy goodness, song welleth in me 
like a river that riseth and overfloweth its 
banks; like a water-spill that hurrieth down 
the mountainside and becometh a torrent. 

Thou art ever with me, by night and by 
day. I hear thy footsteps on the cool pavil- 
ions of my solitudes; thou companionest me 
in my lonesomest hours. 

I will set thy name above all others in my 
heart, for thou art my salvation. 



25 



SONGS OP ADORATION 

X 

BECAUSE thou hast brought me the gifts 
of thy singing, ray heart breaketh with 
pride. 

With the jewels of thy Houses of Dreams 
thou weightest down my hands, and now I 
am crowned. 

In the twilight, when I come home from 
my tasks, I take thy songs in my hands and 
carry them to a chamber of silence. And 
there I meditate upon them, full of love and 
reverence, because they are the gathered fruits 
of thy life, in thy becoming. 

But when thou turnest to me and breath- 
est upon me thy song, I know it is too great 
an honor to be endured, and my heart shat- 
ters itself into a thousand fragments at thy 
feet. 



16 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

XI 

THERE is weariness in my heart for the 
songs I have not sung to you. 

Full of the longing to give of my thoughts 
in my most perfect words, yet ever am I 
cast down because my lips utter only the 
merest fragments and the most pitiable im- 
perfections. My heart y3arns to give of its 
fulness in joy and pain, and I am faint with 
useless striving. 

Because, in my impatience, I cannot con- 
vey to you at once all the music that is in 
my soul, I am seized with conflicting tor- 
ments. I know you are unmoved by my sing- 
ing — therefore I cannot endure my own crea- 
tions. 



When the day is done and I wend my 
way home from my tasks, I love to think 
that you are there, at the end of the road, 
awaiting me; that your heart, free and at- 



27- 



SONGS OF ADOnATION 

tuned, is a-tremble with expectation of my 
singing. 

I love to think that each day, as I come 
to you, I bear in my own heart a song in 
its uttermost perfection. 

But my dreams are as bubbles on the 
bursting foam, and more than ever do my 
unsatisfied longings weigh down upon me like 
the spread wings of gaunt and terrible birds. 

Oh, I shall become so bitter with myself 
at last that I shall create, out of my deepest 
anguish, the most beautiful song of all; and 
then you, who have hitherto stood inaccessible 
of my singing, will crown me with your tears. 



28 



SONGS OP ADORATION 

XII 

YOU who have taught me reverence and 
pointed the way to my pride — v 

As when you said, because I strove so 
hard: ''You need not sing — I know, I under- 
stand." And caused my songs to overflow the 
more. 

As when you wrote: "Who in my hour 
of need brought me your own young thirst- 
ing soul to feed." And set the torches flaming 
in my heart. 

And once you took my hand within your 
palms, smoothing it gently. 

And once you placed your own white, pray, 
erful fingers on my head — 

You who have taught me reverence and 
pointed the way to my pride. 



29 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

XIII 

WHEN the gold of my life is scattered 
in the dust and the hope of the 
world is no more with me, then like a little 
child with outstretched hands will I run to 
you, craving the tenderness which will right- 
fully be mine. For I will be as a little child 
wanting its mother. 

I will come to you, knowing nothing. And 
you will take me on your knees and fold me 
lovingly in your arms. With tales out of 
fairyland you will soothe my mind, and with 
old remembered tunes, sing me to sleep. 

At times my eyes will grow eloquent with 
visions that your words will unfold for me; 
at times my heart will grow wistful in the 
recollections of far-away years. And when, 
after a while, my mind will have drifted 
away in the tide of your own imaginings, I 
will cease to listen and my eyes will be 
closed. 

You will give me back the gold of my 
life and open up again the door of my dreams. 



30 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

You will honor and crown me anew as I 
stand disinherited before you. 

When the grey of the world has touched 
the colors of my soul, and I am utterly with- 
out longing, I will run to you with out- 
stretched hands, like a little child, calling 
its mother. 



31 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

XIV 

OH, what has been prepared for my 
heart which knoweth not whether to 
sorrow or to rejoice? Which is weighted 
down with many presentiments and feeleth 
the hold of an unmentionable fear upon it? 

Oh, let it be given my heart to have cause 
to rejoice. Let it be given my heart to fold 
itself again in the love of many things, to be 
exuberant with courage and thanksgiving to. 
wards the whole world. 

Oh, there is something already unalterably 
written in the heavens, and the pulses of my 
heart are slow-moving, like the drag of pon- 
derous chains. 

What has been prepared for my heart which 
knowelh not whether to sorrow or to rejoice? 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

XV 

IN THE da3's of my promise, woman, the 
grace of your favor lay with sweet weight 
upon my soul. 

Then, when I sang, though my song was 
imperfect and faltering, you listened with 
pride to my singing, and your heart trembled, 
as with a deep expectation. 

Now, in my fulfihnent, you have forsaken 
me. 

Now, when I sing, and the melodies flow 
unhindered from my soul, and utter forth 
the whole of my longings perfect as song 
can convey them, you turn away and are si- 
lent. I lay the full fruits of my efforts hum- 
bly within your lap and you accept them 
not! 

Oh, have I made friends of all the world 
with my singing that you should forsake me? 

In the days of my promise the grace of 
your favor lay with sweet weight upon my 
soul. 

Now, in my fulfilment, you have forsaken 
me. 



33 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

XVI 

JUBILANT were my feet in the days of my 
adoration. 
Then, ere ever thou hadst uttered the word, 
I knew that thy summons had sounded. 

Thy heart need only have called — I heard, 
and with pace undiminishing sped to thy side. 
Jubilant were my feet in the days of my 
adoration 



But now, when thou sayest "Come!" my 
heart pondereth the enigmatic word. Fain 
are my feet to fly, yet irresolute I stand, de- 
bating thy true intent. 

Once I could know ere thou hadst uttered 
the word. 

Now, when thou sayest "Come!" my heart, 
misgiving, knoweth not which way to turn. 



34 



SONGS OF ADORATION 

XVII 

THE temple is dark on the hillside and the 
snows have descended the mountains. 

I stand in the midst of my wayfaring and 
know not whither the road leads. 

The temple is dark on the hillside and 
night is adrift in the valleys. 



Indistinct is the land that surrounds me, 
and I hear not the call of thy summons. 

The torrents surge white in my pathway, 
and I hear not the sound of thy footsteps. 

Only the murmur of voices in the pulse 
of remembered springtides. 

Only the winds blowing chill on the years 
that have waded between us. 



I stand in the midst of my wayfaring and 
know not whither the road leads. 

The temple is dark on the hillside and night 
is adrift in the valleys. 



35 



SONGS OP ADORATION 

XVIII 

THE vesper lamps are lit, and thou hast 
entered the temple. 

Before the altar thou kneelest, and thy 

heart is solemn with offerings. 

Before the altar, in prayer, attending the 

sound of my footsteps. 



Worshipful I come, as of old, though long 
on the highway I tarried. 

The road was steep, and the rapids surged 
ever more darkling before me. 

Worshipful, as of old, with wreaths to 
encircle thy forehead! 



Through open meadow and upland, through 
perilous wild-glen and forest, 

I come remembering the law in the days 
of our hearts' intercession: 

Remembering the songs that were wrought 



36 



SONGS OP ADORATION 

when Spring still moved through the down- 
lands! 

The vesper lamps are lit, and thou hast 
entered the temple. 

I come, though the dusk is fallen, and the 
years are adrift in my spirit! 



37 



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